That's what I asked Lalande after the game. Albany's Steven Goertzen had just knocked over Lalande in front of the net, but Brown made no call.

On the next whistle, Brown and Lalande had a long chat in front of the Syracuse net, with both gesturing with their hands as they made their points.

"He said it was an unintentional hit,'' Lalande said. "He said if there would have been a goal he would have called it off, but he wouldn't have called a penalty. It might have been incidental contact. But he (Goertzen) was in no hurry to give up.''

- Who knew defenseman Brent Regner had a move like the one he showed in the shootout? Apparently, Crunch coach Ross Yates. Assistant Trent Cull told me that Regner has shown some shootout promise in practice, so Yates decided to put him in the lineup. Regner used to play forward, and it showed. Since the Crunch has some extra defensemen now, maybe Syracuse should move him back up front.

- Speaking of forwards, can Picard, Frischmon and Fritsche double-shift for the rest of the season.

- Well, 20 minutes of defense (in the third) is a lot better than none. Yates again reminded the team during the second intermission that it was pressing too much, it could regain control if it dropped the fancy stuff in the defensive zone and kept it simple.

"Ross said, you have a good period, you can come back against them,'' Cull said. "Everyone knows we're on the schneid here. Guys try to work extra hard to come out of it.''

"Maybe the 20th time (being told) was the charm. It worked tonight,'' Lalande said.

- On Trevor Frischmon's goal, which made it 3-2 in the third, Brown absolutely blew his whistle when Frisch stuffed it through Rats goalie Justin Peters' legs. Normally, that's the end of the play, goal or not. The only thing I can think of is that with the way Frisch reacted immediately, and with the goal light going on, maybe Brown realized when he blew the whistle the puck was actually already across the line, and he was screened by Peters.

"I didn't hear anything,'' Frischmon said. "He definitely could have (whistled). It probably looked like it was covered for a split second. But I didn't hear anything.''

- Alexandre Picard did the postgame television interview outside the Crunch locker room. In previous years, such honored guests have gotten water dumped on them by teammates while on the air. But no one tried that on Pic, not that I'm recommending it or anything.

"I don't know. We have a bunch of new guys. Maybe they don't know that trick,'' Pic said.

"I've heard I have a face for radio,'' Ratchuk said. "I was a little hesitant going into it.''

- Former Cruncher Ben Simon has signed with Kalamazoo of the ECHL. I always liked his game a lot. He was one of those guys who just did those little things that add up to wins.

- How's this for a scheduling quirk: the Crunch played Albany on a Wednesday. And the teams meet again in a week, also on a Wednesday, in Albany. And then once more, in two weeks, again on a Wednesday in Albany.